“ I was driving down the road with my mother and my grandmother in South Carolina...and I was lying down in the back of the car and it was in the evening...

and I popped up...and there was a guitar store right there and I said “Mother I would like to play the Guitar” 

Is that a true story?

Yeah, I was seven years old and she pulled over, I was just about to turn eight, she pulled over and we went in and she bought me a Giannini classical guitar and I picked it up the next day.

Had you thought about playing the guitar prior to this?

No.

You just saw a guitar store and said that looks cool?

Yes.

Had you been listening to music that had guitar in it?

Yes, I had been listening to the Beatles...and Bob Dylan, they were my introduction to pop music.

You studied at the University of Miami. How would describe your experience there and how does UM compare to the Berklee experience for you?

I was there in the late 80”s and it was very much a jazz boot camp. It was very intense, the criticism was very harsh. A lot of people didn’t survive, it was a very small program so you were under a microscope. I think it was great actually, I really had a great time. The improvisation classes were great in particular.

You studied with Fred Hamilton?

I did, that was at the University of North Texas where I got my master’s degree.

What did you do after graduating from the University of Miami?

I gigged around Miami for a while and I ended up back in Texas for various reasons. I was living in Denton Texas playing a lot of horrible gigs, and I was selling some equipment and Fred Hamilton, the chair of the jazz guitar program at the University of North Texas came over to buy some gear. He saw my University of Miami diploma on the wall and we started talking and he suggested that I come in and audition for him. After I auditioned for him he offered me a graduate teaching fellowship. So they paid me to go to school and get my master’s degree. They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

What year did you graduate from UNT?

I graduated from North Texas in 1995.

When did you start teaching here at Berklee?

I started teaching here in the fall of ’96, I’ve just finished my twelfth year here.

What brought you to Boston as opposed to staying in Texas where the Austin scene in particular is very good.

I lived in Austin from 1983 to 1988 and then I moved from Austin to Miami and then back to Texas, the Denton Dallas area. I moved back because my ex- wife was getting her Doctorate degree in psychology and UNT had one of the best programs in the country so that is why we moved back. She then went looking for post doctorate fellowships and asked me if I would consider moving to Boston. I thought I might be able to get a teaching gig at Berklee so I contacted Rick Peckham (Rick had gotten his Master’s degree from North Texas as well.)

I called and asked Rick if he would hire me. At his request I sent him a demo tape and he and Larry Baione really dug it and they gave me a job here.